Donald Trump’s election marks the end of the American epoch. His election strikes at the heart of the post-Second World War bargain: a global trade and finance regime guided by broadly shared liberal values, managed by global institutions, with all of it underwritten by U.S.-subsidized commitments to collective defence.

Trump’s rise throws all of that into question, even as powerful strategic rivals continue to gain steadily in material terms.

In place of that longstanding order, he offers a kind of trade and military neo-mercantilism. Trump seems more concerned with protecting Americans from foreign competition than in opening markets to U.S. ingenuity. Where once the U.S. gladly provided allies with military protection in exchange for influence and stability, he indicates all must now pay their own way.

Whether the United States ultimately follows through on those promises remains to be seen, but countries around the world cannot and will not simply wait around, hoping for the best.

We are entering a truly multipolar era. The great powers will do what they can, and the rest will do what they must to get by. Major powers like China, India and Russia will reorient their regional and global postures. Germany and France must decide on an approach to myriad problems – many Russia-related – that does not count on robust American support. Eastern European nations must do the same, only with fewer resources and less distance between them and Moscow.

Japan and Korea must consider options with regard to China and North Korea, and even one another. Southeast Asian nations, long accustomed to a delicate balancing act between China and the U.S., may have to readjust that balance markedly, and on and on, down the list.

Some are already adjusting. Turkey has signalled interest in a new bargain with the incoming administration, one with fighting terrorism – instead of, say, a robust commitment to democracy – at its heart. Others will soon be forced to adjust; Iran will have little choice but to resume uranium enrichment if the U.S. tears up its nuclear deal as Trump promised to do.

On any issue you can name, countries must adjust to new and uncertain terrain. Will the American dollar remain the reserve currency of choice? What happens to global action on climate change? Moreover, most grapple with these questions while struggling with many of the same social forces that played a role in the U.S. election: a significant segment of voters that are increasingly suspicious of the country’s political and economic leaders.

And what of Canada? It goes without saying that we must work to safeguard our interests with the United States. Fortunately, the depth and complexity – and indeed, profitability – of accumulated ties between the two countries aid us in that task. Both countries gain much from the trade facilitated by NAFTA; we simply must remind the new administration of that fact early and often.

On other fronts, we can expect new demands, new offers and some challenging discussions. Canada will hear calls to increase military spending, and the Keystone XL pipeline is almost certainly back on the table. More darkly, Canada will have a difficult choice on its hands regarding military and intelligence cooperation should President-elect Trump follow through on promises to bring back techniques such as waterboarding.

No country is better positioned to handle acrimonious debate, however. By some combination of historical contingency, geographical luck, political foresight and hard work, Canada stands virtually alone in (so far) escaping the most toxic forms of those social undercurrents described above. Canadians still broadly embrace policies of openness and engagement abroad, and tolerance at home.

We increasingly find ourselves keepers of the (small-l) liberal flame on the world stage. What once was consensus is being steadily and increasingly questioned everywhere else. We can and must do all that we can to safeguard those commitments at home and look for ways to encourage them abroad, even as we confront the challenges ahead.

Stewart Prest is a postdoctoral fellow at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

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